My bots/traps has been running +0x6 since 32, and I only run that low becuase I don't want to spend too much time on any one mission, I'd rather do more missions than get the max XP from every one (to see more content)
I can and have cleared +2x8 starting at about 40 when I got tactics slotted out and finally could afford the pet unique to soft cap my tier 1s and tier 3. Going that high adds an average of about 20 seconds to the 30-40 seconds it takes to decimate a spawn. I will be farming for purples like there's no tomorrow soon and spawns absolutely melt. Office missions are especially quick to be destroyed because bosses don't run across an open map to get out of my AoEs, but I've run the samurai +endurance map at +1x8 to help lowbies and I kill spawns faster than my friends SS brute (way faster)
Bots or thugs combined with /dark, /thermal, /traps, or /poison are absolutely insane with the AoE potential, and Bots/Traps feels just as fast to me as my fire/kin does, but with several times the survivability.
Its also worth noting that bots/traps will probably be the absolute cheapest farming build you could make. Requires no purples, few uniques, etc. I've spent about 60 million on mine total, and that includes Dual Origins, lvl 25 set IOs and common IOs, and a fair number of replacements along the way (I don't have a single IO lower than 35 right now, and I'm 44)
Pretty much what Spiritfox said. My thoughts:
I've used both Thugs/Traps and Bots/Traps for farming and they're both a beatstick. Thugs tend to pack more damage because they've sacrificed any way of healing themselves, as well as any useful secondary effects from their attacks outside of -Def. Also? The stupid arsonist can GDIAF. He usually does anyway.
Bots however, tend to be slightly more survivable. They also have the advantage of making it easier to soft-cap your own defense which, when combined with your patron shield, opens up the obvious choice of using Provoke to keep the mobs close to you and off your pets. Being soft-capped will also make it easier to toe-bomb in the middle of a crowd. And bots don't look like Matrix rejects. 
If you go /Traps, you'll get different viewpoints on how to slot it. Some say go full-out soft-cappnig on +Def so you can Tankermind with ease. I, OTOH, say go for about 37.5% and use 1 luck to take you to 50% so you can handle the alpha, then when most of the mob's dead you don't need to be soft-capped anymore. It's a little more work, but it'll free up your build for other slotting possibilities, such as using a billion damage procs (ok ok more like 10, but it'll *feel* like a billion when you see all the orange numbers). Most of the damage procs you can slot are pretty cheap as market prices go, although a couple are expensive.
Anyway, those are the first things that come to mind. Hope this helps a little bit. 
Gaheris
"I know that will get glossed over and 6 months from now someone here on the forums will make a statement like "Remember back when walk was crashing the mapservers" and someone else will say "Oh yeah, I remember that" and I will drop my face into my palm and die a little bit more inside." - BABs
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I just wanted to comment you should never, ever, be taking the alpha as bots/traps. I got seekers down to 45 second recharge by level 35, thats what they're there for and they're ******* amazing at it. If you're killing mobs in less than 45 seconds, your difficulty is not high enough.
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Originally Posted by Gaheris
If you go /Traps, you'll get different viewpoints on how to slot it. Some say go full-out soft-cappnig on +Def so you can Tankermind with ease. I, OTOH, say go for about 37.5% and use 1 luck to take you to 50% so you can handle the alpha, then when most of the mob's dead you don't need to be soft-capped anymore. It's a little more work, but it'll free up your build for other slotting possibilities, such as using a billion damage procs (ok ok more like 10, but it'll *feel* like a billion when you see all the orange numbers). Most of the damage procs you can slot are pretty cheap as market prices go, although a couple are expensive.
Anyway, those are the first things that come to mind. Hope this helps a little bit. Gaheris |
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Not always true.|
Originally Posted by spiritfox
I just wanted to comment you should never, ever, be taking the alpha as bots/traps. I got seekers down to 45 second recharge by level 35, thats what they're there for and they're ******* amazing at it.
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I jump in to take the alpha, taunt, and get them close to me. Then I drop caltrops with knockdown proc and the AoE immob. Now the burn patches land. Nothing moves and everything dies.
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Originally Posted by spiritfox
If you're killing mobs in less than 45 seconds, your difficulty is not high enough.
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Farming is typically done at level 50, therefor you want the difficulty at +0/x8 to kill fast and get all level 50 recipes. Or you want them at -1/x8 to kill even faster and get a few level 49 recipes, but the purples will still drop as 50 (that's all they can drop as).
If you're not a level 50, you're not farming, but you are trying to maximize your rewards. In that case, yes, you want to up the difficulty.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
so traps is it eh? ok, thanks for the info.
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This is something I have been wondering for some time now. Are you saying -1/x8 does or does not drop purples with a lvl50 character? If they do still drop, then I will be running RWZ mishes like crazy at -1/x8 on my /elec brute.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison
Farming is typically done at level 50, therefor you want the difficulty at +0/x8 to kill fast and get all level 50 recipes. Or you want them at -1/x8 to kill even faster and get a few level 49 recipes, but the purples will still drop as 50 (that's all they can drop as). If you're not a level 50, you're not farming, but you are trying to maximize your rewards. In that case, yes, you want to up the difficulty. |
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Oh yes, even enemies as low as level 47 will drop purples. The beautiful thing is that the frequency of the drop doesn't even change. The only thing that affects frequency is rank (minion, LT, boss). To farm purples, -1/x8 is definitely the best setting. I'm not sure if bosses are good or bad. They have a higher drop rate, but take longer to kill... Debatable.|
Originally Posted by Pyro_Master_NA
This is something I have been wondering for some time now. Are you saying -1/x8 does or does not drop purples with a lvl50 character? If they do still drop, then I will be running RWZ mishes like crazy at -1/x8 on my /elec brute.
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What I really should have done was keep a mission from when I was 47 (set at +0/x8) or 48 (set at -1/x8) to do my farming. As it stands, my MM is stuck farming level 49 mobs.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
when on a farming MM, what are you guys usually farming? the standard nem map? AE?
/gignore @username is the best feature of this game. It's also probably the least used feature.
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Originally Posted by Nights_Dawn
Hazy is right
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I do a better job of it than the Seekers, plus they deal a 40% Debuff to enemy damage and can stun about half the mob, neither of which they can accomplish in death. Especially useful in farming Nemesis and negating unlikely Vengeance stacks.
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Originally Posted by spiritfox
I just wanted to comment you should never, ever, be taking the alpha as bots/traps.
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I've been able to do some pretty amazing things with my thugs\dark mastermind. Basically doing the /dark corruptor trick with corner pulling to get them all nice and bunched up on a tar patch, then jump in front of them, unleash fearsome stare, heal, drop darkest night if needed...and watch the spawn melt. Pretty much as soon as I jump in front of them body guard is triggered from the alpha and the boys go to work. |
Originally Posted by RoboBug
has anyone had any success with one? bots or thugs/pain maybe? anyone have any insight?
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The speed at which spawns melt is pretty sick sometimes.
The Porcelain God - DarkKinetics Corruptor
Meat Juice - DarkDarkSoul Brute
Pretty and Strong - Do you really have to ask?
well, i have a bots/pain at 37ish that i'm gonna level up and give it a go around. with relatively cheap IO slotting i can get the recharge on the aoe debuff to around 40 seconds. that and an AOE immob from the patron should make this doable. we will see though. I also have a bots/traps i started working on as well.
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i also wonder this. since the bots/traps build seems to rely on defense for survivability, it would seem nems are a bad idea.
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Originally Posted by Hazygreys
when on a farming MM, what are you guys usually farming? the standard nem map? AE?
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Originally Posted by Hazygreys
when on a farming MM, what are you guys usually farming? the standard nem map? AE?
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Originally Posted by RoboBug
i also wonder this. since the bots/traps build seems to rely on defense for survivability, it would seem nems are a bad idea.
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Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
what if we are farming for xp?
I farm with a bot/DM. It kills everything. nuff said.
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I think it's anything that does decent AoE + dark (storm would probably work just as well). I've been doing 8 man ticket farming, solo with thugs\dark and it takes ~15 seconds at most to kill a spawn if I have a corner to use (and since it's AE...well...i can make sure that happens).
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Originally Posted by beyeajus74018
I farm with a bot/DM. It kills everything. nuff said.
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The Porcelain God - DarkKinetics Corruptor
Meat Juice - DarkDarkSoul Brute
Pretty and Strong - Do you really have to ask?
Love farming on my bot/dm now - tar patch, fearsome stare + electric fences, while bots just rain damage on them... yummy. If its a small spawn I don't bother with tar patch.
http://www.scene-and-heard.com/cov/covsig.jpg
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RWZ missions, +3/x8, and throw in bosses.
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Originally Posted by RoboBug
what if we are farming for xp?
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Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I did couple of time baby new year mission (-1/8) on my lvl 50 necro/dark without any trouble to get badges quicker.
Since she is on combined IO/SO build without any set, guess with sets she would be able to solo much harder opponents also (used to keep her on vicious while leveling).
To bad that I get bored with repeating same mission so I don't have nerves to farm.
"If you want to win you must not lose."
"Easiest way to turn defeat into a victory is to put on the enemy's uniform"
"Better strategic retreat than dishonorable defeat"
- Il Numero Uno (The Number One)
just hit level 40 on my bots/pain and am able to plow through +1 6 person spawns for the most part. can't wait to get my AoE immob, that should help a lot.
Tell me about how sexy Painbringer is on Assault Bot? Especially after using AC on a group?
Painbringer is totally incredible on the assault bot. so far my favorite moments have been when i've accidently over aggro'd while teaming with my GF. she yells at me that we are going to die then assault bot (who i gave PB to over her lol) lets loose his AoEs and wipes everything out. makes me happy.
I don't know if I'd trade my bots/traps for bots/pain, but that sounds pretty delicious!
Edit: Oh, I haven't seen it said, and it probably goes without saying, but Mu Mastery is the only AoE immob with -KB. The others won't always do as much immobilization as you'd like.
i have already selected Mu as i am now 41. wish i got ball lightning like my brute but oh well.
has anyone had any success with one? bots or thugs/pain maybe? anyone have any insight?